Lots To See In Minneapolis And St. Paul

To see and to hear. It was a week ago when I was in the Twin Cities but it seemed like only yesterday. Went to 2 concerts, first at the First Avenue on June 13th to see Fountains Of Wayne and Broken West (I'll review that show next blog entry), then 3 days later in St. Paul at the legendary Fitzgerald Theatre to take in MPR's The Current Fakebook series featuring Laurie Lindeen. The Current Fakebook brings together writers and musicians for an evening of music and insights. Current hosts interview guests and give them time and space to express themselves in a casual, creative and innovative format. Lindeen is promoting her book, Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella, which tells of love, illness and the struggles of coming of age in the Minneapolis music scene in the 80's. Of special interest is the fact that Lindeen is married to Paul Westerberg.

The evening began with host Mary Lucia (local broadcast personality, and Westerberg's sister) and Lindeen seated to one side of the stage, discussing highlighted moments from her book. The interview was segmented with musical performances by some of the very musicians who played with her and inspired her. This included a 2 song reunion with her old band Zuzu's Petals and performances by Steve Wynn, Mark Olson, Mark Perlman (Jayhawks), Lori Barbero (Babes In Toyland), John Eller and Paul Westerberg in his first live performance since severely injuring his hand around New Year's. The drawing card was obviously Westerberg, but the whole evening had an easygoing atmosphere with different incarnations of musicians playing with each other with loose but inspiring performances. The highlights for me would be "dressed in all-white" Westerberg singing, I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face, that brought his wife to near tears, Zuzu's Petals reunion and the finale featuring everyone in the show singing a rousing version of Daydream Believer with Eller on lead vocals. I only heard about this show a week before my trip to Minneapolis (which was for something unrelated) and I immediately bought a ticket because I knew this was going to be something special. The only down-side of the evening was that I was going to buy Laurie's book after the show (She was to sign books on stage), but they sold out the person in front of me. I'm disappointed, it sounds like an interesting read, so I'll be on the lookout for the book here in Canada or on Amazon.

For a real review of the concert, click on this link for How Was The Show. It was announced before the show that it was to be recorded for later broadcast on 89.3 The Current or you can listen to the complete interview/music show streamed online on the MPR site.
I also recorded the show from my seat with my trusty Minidisc recorder, so If you want to download a uncompressed version of the music only, I've uploaded the torrent on Dimeadozen. I've posted some mp3's highlights below:

Laurie Lindeen "Fakebook"
Fitzgerald Theatre, St. Paul, MN
June 16, 2007

1. STEVE WYNN- Still Holding On To You
2. ZUZU'S PETALS- ??
3. PAUL WESTERBERG w/band- Mother's Little Helper
4. PAUL WESTERBERG solo- I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face
5. PAUL WESTERBERG solo- Goddamn Angel
6. FINALE everyone- Daydream Believer